Drone company Atmos UAV has launched Marlyn, a lightweight drone which flies automatically, effortlessly and at high wind speeds. One of the first customers that signed up is Skeye, Europe’s leading unmanned aircraft data provider. This new technology allows industry professionals around the world to map the surface 10 times faster and guarantees no more drone crashes.

“With her unique properties, Marlyn allows us to tackle even our most challenging jobs,” says Pieter Franken, co-founder of Skeye, one of Europe’s leading unmanned aircraft data providers. He continues: “We expect time savings of up to 50% and moreover save a huge amount of our resources and equipment.” Marlyn can cover 1 km² in half an hour with a ground sampling distance of 3 cm.

“We are very excited to work together with Skeye and to have the opportunity to implement their operational expertise in this promising project,” Sander Hulsman, CEO of Atmos UAV adds. “Marlyn is all about making aerial data collection safer and more efficient, allowing professional users across all industries to access the skies, enabling them to focus more on analysing the actual information and improving their business effectiveness.”

Mapping made easy
With Marlyn, mapping jobs consist of four easy steps. First, a flight plan is generated based on the required accuracy and the specified project area. Secondly, the drone starts its flight and data collection by a simple push of a button. Thirdly, after Marlyn has landed at the designated spot, the captured data is automatically organised and processed by image processing software of choice. Finally, a detailed analysis can be done to provide actionable insights.

About Atmos UAV
Atmos UAV is a high-tech start-up that designs and manufactures reliable aerial observation and data gathering solutions for professional users. It all originated from a project at Delft University of Technology. With the support of its faculty of Aerospace Engineering, it grew into the fast-growing spin-off company Atmos UAV. The company specializes in land surveying, mining, precision agriculture, forestry and other mapping related applications. Atmos UAV is currently hiring to accommodate its rapid expansion.

It was the event we have worked towards since the founding of RoboValley: the International Robotics Week. Last week, we were able to show the whole world what RoboValley has built in the past years and what RoboValley stands for: connecting robots and people worldwide.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the International Robotics Week: our partners from Robo Business Media, Chrysalix, Accenture, Rabobank, InnovationQuarter, the city of Delft, the Innovation Attaché Network and the speakers and visitors.

Integrating RoboBusiness Europe, TUS Expo and ROS Industrial in one event turned out to be a huge success. For three days, experts in the field of robotics and unmanned systems, and their robots and drones, from all over the world gathered in the Netherlands. The week saw an expo and conference in the World Forum The Hague, tours to labs of the Delft University of Technology and demonstration days in the port of Rotterdam (unmanned harbour) and former airport Valkenburg (drone show). This made clear that the Netherlands has everything needed for robotics companies that want to settle here.

Keynotes
The International Robotics week started on Wednesday, with inspiring keynotes from Kim Liebregts (Tesla Benelux), Noel Sharkey (Responsible Robotics) and Melonee Wise (Fetch Robotics). Wise’s contribution was of particular interest. She pointed out that there are around 1000 robotics start-ups in the world, most of these founded after 2010. Why is that? The answer is open-source robotics (ROS). “Why did this sudden explosion happen? Because of open innovation.” Her company also benefited from ROS.

Sharkey told visitors to think about the ethical aspects of robotics. “We don’t want to sleepwalk into robotics just as we did with the internet.”

Business wise
The IRW is the perfect place for start-ups to present themselves. Prince Constantijn, the start-up envoy of StartupDelta, had some advice for them. The preconditions for being successful in the Netherlands are present, but it is not enough to just have a good product. To give this product a place in the market, you have to be ‘business wise’: you need to surround yourself with people who have a sense of enterprise.

Constantijn also visited the RoboValley pavilion, where various start-ups were gathered together: Delft Robotics, CropZoomer, Clear Flight Solutions, SeaDrone, Robot Care Systems, Robot Security Systems, Robot Engineered Systems, Vectioneer. Also present were the student DreamTeam: Project MARCH, ImProvia and the Care-o-bot from Fraunhofer / Unity Robotics. During the start-up event, AeroVinci announced they received a subsidy of 300 thousand euros. This allows them to further develop the dronedock technology.

Portal: connect.robovalley.com
During the IRW, we also launched the beta version of connect.robovalley.com: ‘your compass in the world of robotics’. Connect.robovalley.com offers a single place for companies to find the latest news, insights and reports on robotics.

RoboValley Foundation Dinner
Networking is an important part of a large congress. Because of this, we were happy that the city of Delft and InnovationQuarter enabled us to host the first RoboCafé NL in the old town hall of the city of Delft on the first evening of the event. Futurist Aseem Prakash delivered an inspiring presentation, the historical ambience took care of the rest.

A day later, we organised the RoboValley Foundation Dinner in our own offices. The Dutch robotics sector was present, as were several international guests. They were, amongst others, addressed by Delft University of Technology’s rector magnificus Karel Luyben, Aimee van Wynsberghe and Guszti Eiben.

‘Golden Age of Nerds’
“We are living in a golden age of nerds”, concluded comedian Pep Rosenfeld during the closing keynotes a day later. He is right. During the IRW, it became clear how much is happening in the field of robotics and how fast developments are moving. “Robotics and AI are all about possibilities”, said Prakash during his keynote. “Possibilities that humans never have experienced before.”

There was room for ethical issues during the closing keynotes. Irakli Beridze of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute told us what the UN is doing in the fields of robotics and AI. Beridze and his organisation have settled in The Hague because of the presence of the Responsible Robotics Foundation. “By joining forces, we want to make this a city of ideas and global policies related to AI and robotics.”

“Over the past few years, we have built a global platform for organisations and people involved in robotics”

RoboValley Platform
RoboValley’s Managing Director, Arthur de Crook, thanked everyone at the end of the IRW. He explained the importance of the event for RoboValley. “Over the past few years, we have built a global platform for organisations, researchers and governments involved in robotics. But we also really wanted to create a moment to show this platform to the world. This moment was the International Robotics Week.” Robotics can contribute to solving the grand societal challenges. This is why it is important to create the next generation robotics. “So we can embrace the future for the good.”

To incorporate drones in our lives in a good and safe way, we need anti-drone instruments. On 4 December the TU Delft Micro Air Vehicle Lab (MAVLab) will host the first ever anti-drone competition: DroneClash. During this competition, participants use their own drone(s) to take down as many other drones as possible. They also need to avoid a whole series of anti-drone interventions.

‘Drones can fly into our lives, but we need to be able to take them out again if necessary’ says Bart Remes of the TU Delft MAVLab. ‘Drone development has grown hugely in recent years, and you can see the anti-drone industry growing too. Ideally, these developments keep each other in check and result in a safe and responsible incorporation of drones in our daily lives. We are organising DroneClash to generate new ideas in order to encourage this process.’

The clash
On 4 December the teams will gather in one of Valkenburg airfield’s hangars (The Netherlands). Four teams will compete in each round. Each team has one or more ‘Fighter drones’ which they can use to take down other drones, and a so-called ‘Queen drone’ which they need to defend. The audience can experience the competition as a sort of real life video game.

The teams start in the Battle 1st Arena, where they have to start trying to take each other down right away. The surviving drones fly through the Hallway of Doom Death and Destruction, where they will be attacked by all kinds of anti-drone instruments. Finally, the remaining drones enter the 4 Queen palace where they must try and knock out the Queen drones of the other teams. Whoever succeeds in this is the winner.

Expo
The DroneClash will provide a platform for all parties interested in anti-drone instrument development. At the DroneClash Expo, developers are invited to exhibit their products and share their ideas for this relatively new field.

Teams who wish to take part in the competition can register here: http://www.droneclash.nl/

Credit: Robovalley

By: Jurjen Slump

QR-codes that provide autonomous vessels with traffic information on buoys, ships or port buildings. Algorithms for controlling a ship’s unexpected movements. Fleets of autonomous ships that are monitored from on-shore control centres. Researchers at Delft University of Technology are working on the future of shipping. They envision a naval world that will be drastically different from today’s shipping industry.

The future is unmanned. And while everybody is talking about Tesla and Google’s self-driving cars, one tends to forget about what is happening in the oceans. As of now, robotic ships are only sailing in labs, but they will be eventually steaming out into the real world. Rolls Royce predicts that it will test a fully autonomous, unmanned ocean-going ship by 2035. It won’t be long before remote-controlled ships will appear on the high seas, as is shown in this futuristic video from Rolls Royce.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg0A9Ve7SxE

Autonomous vessels will have a major impact. “Imagine what will happen if you save cost and time on one of the biggest sectors in the world”, says Vittorio Garofano of the faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE) at Delft University of Technology. The benefits are clear: cost reduction, reduced emissions, increased safety and increased cargo capacity, to name a few. Besides, people won’t lose their jobs over this development, as by 2025 a shortage of approximately 150,000 maritime officers is expected.

Credit: Robovalley

Adaptive control algorithms
But there are a lot of challenges that must be met before the captain can leave the bridge and the algorithms take control. For example, which technologies are needed so that autonomous ships can function hundreds of kilometres from shore? How can robotic ships be made as safe as conventional ships? How should they interact with each other and how do you make sure that the power and propulsion systems work properly when nobody’s on board?

These are some of the key challenges that the research of Delft University of Technology focusses on. Several algorithms have been developed to ensure a safe and robust operation, explained PhD student Ali Haseltalab during a colloquium on autonomous vessels last week. “With an adaptive control algorithm, which learns the dynamics of the propeller, you can control the ship perfectly”, Haseltalab told. Other algorithms are developed for power management, fault-detection and health monitoring.

The Grey Seabax
These mathematics are put to the test at a 3mE-laboratory, which consists of two giant water tanks with QR-codes on the sides. To study the dynamical behaviour of autonomous vessels, researchers built 3 prototypes: The Grey Seabax, the Amphibian and the Delfa-1. The Grey Seabax is a remote-controlled vessel or RCV – the first essential step towards a fully autonomous ship.

One of the things Garofano and his colleagues are working on is a robust communication infrastructure. The Grey Seabax recognises QR-codes and will be able to respond accordingly. These binary markers can be used for several purposes: they could represent a waypoint, a traffic redirection signal or a building ashore.

Credit: Robovalley

Distributed control
The computer lies at the heart of robotic ships. To enhance safety, it is important that the central computer hands over as much as control to intelligent sensors and actuators. With the Amphibian and Delfia-1, research is being done on the shift from centralised to distributed control. “If something fails, the system continues”, Garofano says. “That increases the survivability.”

With the Amphibian being a hovercraft, new transportation routes can be explored. But the vessel is still very difficult to control, tells Garofano. “GPS offers an accuracy of metres, but we need millimetres.”

Credit: Robovalley

Surveillance and inland shipping
Back to the future. Where will the first robotic ships be deployed? For surveillance, maritime litter collection, patrolling and inspection, says associate professor Rudy Negenborn. “They can be used for monitoring water quality, to make sure that nobody can dump chemicals into the ocean unnoticed.”

Negenborn thinks that the big container shipping corporations will be the last to switch to robotic ships. They will first appear on the rivers. “For inland shipping businesses, the salary costs are relatively high compared to big container ships”, says Negenborn. “For them, autonomous shipping is more interesting.”

Safety
All researchers agree that, in the end, safety will be one of the biggest advantages of robotic ships. Nowadays, at least 70 percent of all incidents at sea are caused by human error. Autonomous shipping will lead to a drastic reduction of the number of incidents and casualties. “Robots will ensure consistency of operations”, explains Haseltalab. “Autonomous systems will always be there. They don’t get tired.”

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in reading more about robotic ships and underwater drones:

• Designing and deploying a fleet of autonomous boats on the canals of Amsterdam
• Who goes where? Simulated robot boats self-organize to defend against attacks
• Robots Podcast #132: The OpenROV project, with Eric Stackpole and David Lang
• CoCoRo: Tracking the development of the world’s largest autonomous underwater swarm
• Unmanned and underneath: Stay in the know about underwater drones

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

By Jurjen Slump.

Students of Delft University of Technology have developed a new add-on for a 3D printer that can cast silicones inside a 3D printed shell during the printing process. This new, and cheap, technique can be used to create new soft-robotic products that were previously impossible to make. The team presented their findings yesterday, at the science fair that marked the end of the minor Advanced Prototyping of the faculty Industrial Design Engineering.

The technique they developed is called UltiCast. “It is a combination of moulding and 3D printing”, explains Max Nobel, student Industrial Design Engineering. “The machine makes a plastic shell, which is filled with 2-components silicones at the same time.” The shell is made of a plastic (PVA) which dissolves in water. The team uses a Ultimaker 3D printer, which they completely rebuilt.

UltiCasting will allow more complex shapes that could not be printed on a ‘traditional’ direct drive 3D printer. If the mould quality is high, the surface quality of the flexible silicon will also be very high. This is very hard to achieve in traditional fused deposition modelling (FDM) printing, because every layer of hot filament deforms the previous layers of filament.

Soft robotics
The new technique proves very interesting for soft robotics. With UltiCasting it becomes possible to ‘print’ a soft actuator in a mould, thereby elimination the manual casting process and doing so speeding up the process of creating soft actuators. “You get a lot of freedom to personalise the behaviour of robots with geometry and materials”, tells team member Rob Scharff, a PhD student in soft robotics.

“You get a lot of freedom to personalise the behaviour of robots with geometry and materials”

It is mechanical intelligence. “You make sure that the robot behaves exactly as you want to.” For example, you can make a robot hand with flexible fingers and a thumb that has enough strength to pick up a vegetable. “With 3D printing, you can fabricate a custom-made gripper.” Besides, it has the potential to mix hard materials – as another team proved – making it possible to print a skeleton inside silicone. “You can use various materials during printing. The results are much more complex materials.”

The new application is cheap as well: the setup the students made cost about €3000, says Scharff. Other complex multi-material 3D printing systems cost around €300,000. “That’s a big difference.”

Medical sector
In the field of soft robotics, cheap 3D printing can prove valuable for several applications. This could be the case in the medical sector, especially with aided movement. “Reducing the cost of treatment and support utilities is a goal that inspires us all. Soft robotics could, in the long term, be a big player in this progress”, the team states.

“Reducing the cost of treatment and support utilities is a goal that inspires us all”

Therefore, they developed a 3D printed glove with soft robotics actuators to help move your fingers. This glove could be used to assist people with arthritis, local paralysis, limited hand function or as supporting tool in rehabilitation. The goal of the team is not to create a finished product, however, but rather to give a proof of concept showing the possibilities of 3D printing for soft robotics.

Digital fabrication

“3D printing offers a variety of applications, being soft robotics one of them”, tells coordinator Jouke Verlinden. “It allows you to make things that are impossible with traditional robotics. Soft robotics is a research theme in which we invest a lot.”

At the science fair, other student- projects were on display as well. At first sight, some of them don’t seem to be related with robotics. Others are. But don’t be mistaken! “It is all part of digital fabrication. Project Michelangelo is clearly a robot, but the Hololens at the museum has a lot to do with robotics as well. It is all about image recognition, and in the basis, they work with the same algorithms as the ones that are being used for robotic visioning.”

This article was originally posted on RoboValley.

If you liked this article, you may also want to read these other articles on 3D printing:

• Sticky business: Five adhesives tested for 3D printing
• Foundry tool: Multi-material designing for 3-D printing
• 3-D printing hydraulically-powered robots, no assembly required
• AI, deep learning and 3D printing produce ‘The Next Rembrandt’
• Rising Media acquires RoboUniverse and Inside 3D Printing shows

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Credit: RoboValley

By: Jurjen Slump

It takes off like a helicopter, then tilts 90 degrees and flies like a plane, using a single rotor blade. Because of that, it is light weight and can fly long distances. Meet the delftAcopter: a new autonomous hybrid drone, developed in the MAVLab of Delft University of Technology. This revolutionary drone can, for example, be used for search and rescue missions at sea. At the end of this month, the delftAcopter makes its debut at the UAV Outback Challenge in Australia.

The MAVLab may be famous for the Delfly, but a lot research is being done on hybrids as well, tells project coordinator Bart Remes. He runs the team of researchers that developed the delftAcopter. “Building hybdrids, a combination of planes and helicopters, is much more challenging than what is more often used: quadplanes.” Quadplanes are airplanes which can take off vertically due to the use of extra rotor blades. But they don’t have to tilt their air frame in mid-air, which is much more difficult in terms of the autopilot, software and control.

The delftAcopter is a biplane aircraft:  it has a double wing to limit the influence of the wind while taking off and landing. It has a single big rotor blade for propulsion and two small rotors for stability. The wing span is about 1.60 metres, it can fly about 100 kilometres an hour and has a range of 60 kilometres. The drone is equipped with GPS and the latest on-board video techniques, so that it can fly autonomously. Remes and his team worked on the delftAcopter for a year.

Single propeller saves weight

“Our hybrid drone has several advantages compared to quadplanes”, explains Remes. The most important one is the saving of weight. “We use the same propeller for hovering as well as the forward flight. This innovative technology saves energy and thereby increasing the range.” And because it is an airplane, it can cover longer distances than a helicopter. “That is the main reason: we wanted to develop a hybrid drone that resembles an airplane as closely as possible. That’s why we didn’t want to add any extra weight.”

Next to that, the delftAcopter is completely electric. With drones that use fossil fuel, weight saving isn’t so important. “We made it extra difficult for ourselves because we are a university”, says Remes. “We firmly believe in the importance of making very efficient airplanes without extra weight that can take off and land vertically. Besides, drones with electric propulsion are easier to operate.”

Because the delftAcopter can take off and land at difficult to access places such ships, it can be used for search and rescue missions at sea. “You can compare it with the ambulance drone, but with a wider range.”

Outback Joe

The drone will be put to the test during the UAV Challenge in Australia. The mission is to pick up a blood sample of ‘Outback Joe’, who has been feeling unwell and needs medical attention. His doctor has requested a blood test, but he is isolated because of a flood. So a drone has to pick up the blood sample Joe took from himself.

During this Medical Express Challenge, the drone has to take off vertically, then fly 30 kilometres and land vertically 30 metres from Joe – but not closer. When Joe has put his blood sample in the drone, it has to take off vertically again and fly back to base. The drone has to do all of this autonomously and must complete the task within one hour.

Remes’ team will probably be the only one to use a hybrid drone. It is the first time that Delft will participate in this challenge. Remes, therefore, will not speculate about the chances of winning. “It fully depends on the circumstances. The competition is held in the real world, so when there is a setback – powerful gusts of wind, for example – it could be over soon”, he says. “It will be exciting.”

If you liked this article, you may also want to read:

• Regulations on civilian drones in the US and Europe, what do they involve?
• Flying Ring robot can fly on its side
• Flying robots perform 100th show on Broadway, using new localization technology and algorithms
• ‘IDSC Tailsitter’ flying robot performs vertical loops and easily transitions between hover and forward flight

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Credit: RoboValley

By: Rob van Dorp

A room full of kids and it’s quiet. The only sound is an occasional question. They’re all deeply concentrated on one task. These kids are participating in the first Robot Camp organised by Science Centre Delft. At the end of the three-day long camp, they will have built their own Zebro, a six-legged autonomous robot inspired by insects.

Robot Camp is an initiative by Science Centre Delft, in cooperation with Delft University of Technology Robotics Institute. Meant for high-school students of VWO-level between the ages of 14 and 16, they build and program their own robot. On day three, their robots compete against each other. The robot is, of course, theirs to keep afterwards.

After receiving initial instructions and some background information about the robot, the kids were left with an instruction manual and the parts to build their very own robot. Helpful personnel from the Science Centre and Delft University of Technology are there to answer questions and assist where needed. Professor Chris Verhoeven was amongst them to help out as well.

Credit: RoboValley

The Robot Camp is an important event for Chris Verhoeven. According to Verhoeven, you can’t become an engineer, you’re born as one. “The Robot Camp is meant to help you realise that you are an engineer.” It’s extremely important that kids of this age that have been taught to think on an academic level, realise that. This helps them make the right decisions for their future education.

Zebros everywhere

While we were there, Chris Verhoeven showed us various Zebro models that are currently being built by the Robotics Institute. There was the familiar smaller Zebro, which we have seen before. We also got to see a very large Zebro, strong enough to carry a person once it’s finished. One of the other Zebros was programmed to be controlled with a tablet. With the press of a button, you can guide the robot in the right direction and turn its sensors on or off. This is the Zebro that’s also being built by the kids at the camp.

Pretty soon, there will be a lot more Zebros walking around. Not just because of the summer camp, but because the university is ramping up production. The Zebro has a lot of capabilities. Due to the various sizes they come in, Zebros can be deployed in a wide array of environments and situations, from exploring the surface of the Moon or Mars to walking around buildings.

But for now, the participants of the Robot Camp are still building their Zebro. Soon they will compete to see who has built the best one. Keep an eye out because these kids are the engineers of the future and will eventually be building robots of their own design.